Morgan has been a leading Tory rebel, but quit the Open Britain campaign today (Source: Getty)

Mark Sands

Senior Tory backbenchers Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry and Dominic Grieve have all quit the prominent Open Britain campaign in protest after it published a Brexit hitlist of election seats including almost 20 Tory MPs.

Open Britain last night published a list of 40 constituencies, with MPs ranked according to their commitment to avoiding a hard Brexit, with half dedicated to MPs it wanted to unseat.

Of the 20 targeted for eviction, 18 were Conservative MPs including the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith and prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker.

The campaign, which was founded from the official Remain campaign, also listed 20 MPs on whose behalf it wanted to campaign.

Tories Morgan, Soubry and Grieve have all been leading supporters of the group, and today released a statement announcing they would quit the campaign.

In a statement on Morgan's Facebook page, the trio said: "As long standing Conservative Party members and MPs it is untenable for us to play any further role in an organisation, such as Open Britain, which is advocating campaigning against Conservative MPs or candidates. l and we will not be doing so."